Riffs on the road - older people?!

A little song that you can use. . . and be patient. . . :)

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Some Good out of Georgia

This is a follow up to my post about Good and Evil and the bad in the news. I heard (on the TV news) the other day of the response of family and friends to what is now a "recovery" effort for the missing girl in Georgia, lost (attacked, abducted) while hiking.

Part of what *they specifically wanted to say* to the media was: in spite of the outcome, and in the midst of this kind of evil, they wanted to recognize the way that people around them - the community, the media too - have drawn together in love, showing respect and support.

oOo And that when evil things like this happen, this outpouring of concern and help shows once again how there is still more Good than Evil in the world! oOo

"It shows once again there is still more Good than Evil in the world!" Astounding! This I Believe. This is bedrock, and it shows me that although the "bad news" happens, and we should know about it, the reporting of it can initiate a good response.

And I think this is what I was missing earlier. oOo oOo


It's like the antibodies flooding around a wound or infection. It's like the rallying of the troops to the breech in the wall. It's like the circling of close defenders and friends in a fight, closing ranks, increasing what's positive, responding as a team, launching a counter-offensive.

The hurt, the crime, the evil, the hate, the pain, the true loss - this is the initiation, the catalyst if you will, for all the events, bad and good, that follow. oOo

This is where most news reporting starts and stops. We hear time and again how people with concern and love will reach out to help. News media considers this the "human interest", not the "main event". BUT IT'S NOT NEWS - we already know this about human nature! oOo oOo


What is most often lacking is the ongoing Long Tail of the responses to the evil events. oOo As Paul Harvey used to say, "the Rest of the story." Where it leads, how it continues, where it ends... oOo


This is how God has designed life to be. This is THE STORY of countless books and movies throughout time: the reason we love heros, achievers and miraculous recoveries; Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, and dramas like the million "Law and Order" episodes... oOo

We are intended to be the responding agents of good to continue the fight against evil wherever it breaks out. Not to minimize the wrong and destruction, but to turn it around. oOo

Not to ignore it, not by fooling myself into believing "it's all good" - the rose glasses and "speak no evil, hear no evil" syndrome... oOo


WE NEED more news that gives us the backstory and the long-tail forward-story! oOo That shows us how the good in the world responds to -- and actually increases and far outmatches -- the evil itself. I think that news journalism as it has come to be now, cannot provide this.

oOo "Do not overcome evil with (more) evil, but overcome evil with (overwhelming) Good!" oOo


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Who has Longest or Shortest Commute? Share yours

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GOOD Causes - Bloggers Unite!

This is a great site I discovered this week, while searching for GoOod Things. oOo If you have a blog, no matter how much or little time you put into it, try getting into this initiative!

Their next Event is on 12-17-07: Acts of Kindness oOo oOo oOo

DO an act of kindness — in your work, on the street, for your neighborhood and neighbors, wherever; and then post about it on your blogs, using words, pictures, and/or videos to tell the story. oOo oOo Add a badge to your blog to show your support for the Bloggers Unite movement.

The bloggers unite challenge aims at putting a human face on bloggers who are responsible for so much good in the world. [ well, maybe, but not all that more than any other people. . . oOo ]
The goal is to get active and be a motivator to non-bloggers that volunteering for a charity, donating to a cause, or simply doing something kind for another person has a ripple effect around the world. oOo
: ) ZanyThing GOOD ?! oOo oOo

oOo "Bloggers, Do something good offline" -- this fits right in with my philosophy of connecting the Web to RealLife. oOo

Bloggers Unite is an initiative designed to harness the power of the blogosphere to make the world a better place. By challenging bloggers to blog about a particular social cause on a single day, a single voice can be joined with thousands of others to help make a real positive
difference. oOo oOo

Check out what they're doing:

December 17th 2007 - Acts of Kindness

The Acts of Kindness theme aims at putting a human face on blogging as a force for Good. The goal is to be part of the largest group of bloggers to ever blog about an important cause, all on the same day. . . "Maybe 20,000 bloggers, vloggers, photographers will make a difference." oOo oOo

September 27th 2007 - Bloggers Against Abuse

Blog about putting an end to some sort of Abuse (you decide what kind of abuse to blog about)

July 18th 2007 - Organ Donor Awareness Campaign
Organ donation because is a gift of life. In Australia, more than 1,700 people are waiting for organ transplants. In Latin America, more than 50,000. In Europe and the United States, more than 170,000. In China, more than 2 million. In Africa, there isn't enough organization to really know. Without an organ transplant, these people will die.